Abrasive articles, such as coated abrasives and bonded abrasives, are used in various industries to machine work pieces, such as by lapping, branding, or polishing. Machining utilizing abrasive articles spans a wide industrial scope from optics industries, automotive paint repair industries, to metal fabrication industries. In each of these examples, manufacturing facilities use abrasives to remove bulk material or affect surface characteristics of products.
Typical abrasive articles, such as coated abrasive articles and bonded abrasive articles, generally include a binder and abrasive grains. The binder is often formed of a polymer component and is typically cured during the manufacturing process. In particular binder formulations, the curing processes causes the release of corrosive byproducts or agents. Such corrosive byproducts or agents damage equipment associated with the manufacturing process. For example, in the case of a bonded abrasive article, a mold may be formed of a metallic material, or in the case of a coated abrasive product, the coated abrasive may be formed by casting a binder over a backing using metallic blades. Such metallic equipment may corrode when exposed to the corrosive byproducts or agents, leading to reduced equipment lifetime.
In addition to a reduction in equipment life, the corrosion may result in contamination of the abrasive article itself. For example, corroded materials may contaminate the abrasive article, altering the coloring of the article or the properties of the binder system. Further, such corroded materials may influence the performance of the abrasive article. In particular, corroded materials or the corrosive byproducts in an abrasive article may result in corrosion of work pieces abraded by such an abrasive article.
As such, an improved abrasive article and method for manufacturing such an abrasive article would be desirable.